365 Days of Metal: The Dark Side of Iceland

Day 59

Sólstafir - Svartir Sandar

Artist Origin: Reykjavik, Iceland
Genre: Post-metal / Psychedelic
Label: Season of Mist
Running Time: 77 minutes
Release Date: October 14, 2011


Best Part: The title track and Kukl truly emphasize the range the band reaches for.

Favorite Tracks: Ljós í Stormi, Melrakkablús, Æra, Svartir Sandar, and Kukl

Grade: 4.5

Side Note: Could argue post-rock vs post-metal, but it's still one of the coolest albums I've heard this year.

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Svartir Sandar in 20ish words or less:

This Icelandic crew has foregone all its former Black / Viking Metal self, and revels once more in post metal ambiance with their follow-up to 2009's Köld.

The Band:

Sólstafir is a four member band from Iceland that has been around since the early 90's. The band was originally a band that played a fusion of black metal and viking metal. Today, the band plays a post-metal meets psychedelic rock style of music that incorporates the driving swells of post-rock/metal angst, with spacey ambiance, and gloom - more prominent on their previous, and first post-metal inspired releases Masterpiece of Bitterness and Köld.

Sólstafir' previous releases include: Til Valhallar EP (1996), Í Blóði og Anda (2002), Black Death EP (2002), Masterpiece of Bitterness (2005), and Köld (2009)

Jay's Take on Svartir Sandar:

Svartir Sandar is a double album, which I find slightly odd, since the entirety of the record could easily fit on one disc, and there's no dynamic shift in structure to really justify splitting the LP in half. Nonetheless, Svartir Sandar takes off where Sólstafir has left off with Köld, but with a much less gloomier sound. The driving post-rock inspired guitar, angsty vocals provided by Aðalbjörn Tryggvason which are also more prominent and hardcore inspired remain prominent on the record, paired with the wide open calm, and spacey voids that litter the record with both a chilling and pacifying ambiance. It's kind of like Fugazi meets Pink Floyd - sort of. In comparison with their past work, the quality is still top notch with each track providing a solid listening experience - but at nearly 80 minutes in length, there are actually few songs that really jump out at you specifically as necessarily memorable. Their first post-metal inspired record Masterpiece of Bitterness is definitely a must listen if you enjoy post-metal - which I certainly do.

Sample of the Day:



- J